One Friend

This is a long one, but it is a good one. Please read, you won't be disappointed!

I have the best friend in the whole world. Please do not try to argue with me and tell me your best friend is the best friend in the world. MY best friend is the best friend ever. This is my best friend:

She is weird, crazy, loud, odd, beautiful, funny, smart, kind, talented. You get the picture. She is so great.

I have known Erika since my junior year of high school, which would be seven years. We were on drill team together. I didn't know her very well that year, but I do know she voted for me to be captain, so that's all I really needed to know. My senior year, we were both officers, so we spent a lot of time in and out of school together. We did hang out just the two of us a few times, but for some reason, we didn't see the signs and we didn't become best friends then. Although the great idea of putting tacos in some one's yard (please, PLEASE, ask to hear this story in person. It is the best story you will ever hear) and getting the police called on you should be a pretty obvious sign...this wasn't obvious to us.

We kept in touch and hung out every once in a while after we both graduated. However, it wasn't until Erika invited me over to watch the "Final Rose" episode of Jason's season on the Bachelor that our real true friendship began. I came over, watching the finale to a show I hadn't watched all season, and the rest is history.

That's right. The Bachelor is the reason we are one friends. Since then we have pretty much never separated. We go on birthday trips to Vegas together, we take road trips to New Mexico, we go camping, we act like Christmas Crazies on Black Friday, we have great ideas, we make a lot of t-shirts, we watch a lot of Bachelor and all it's forms, and we ALWAYS go as a couple to most parties (we even give gifts as a couple).

Erika is the best friend I have ever had. She is more than a best friend, she is a sister.

This girl is a big part of my life. She is one of the reasons my life is so great. She is sometimes one of the reasons I can keep going.

Erika was the first person I could get a hold of the night my mom died. As soon as I got off the phone with my dad, I tried calling Branden, but he was rushing home from Oklahoma and couldn't get calls. The next person I called was Erika. I will never forget that phone call. It wasn't very long, and the only thing she said to me was "Where are you? I am on my way." Literally less than five minutes later, she was there. She drove me to the hospital, and she stayed with my family until after 2 in the morning. Sometimes I wonder if it was unfair of me to ask her to be there, to see my mom like that. It wasn't an easy thing for anyone, but she was there, no questions asked, no hesitation.With her there those first few hours, I could say the things I needed to say and act the way I need to and know that she would understand. She would just get it. I don't think I could have made it through that night, and the days that followed with out her. She walked in with and sat with the family at my mom's service because that is what she is. Family.

Erika has one of the most beautiful souls and hearts anyone will ever see. She is loud and crazy and will make you laugh until you cry, but she is also warm and bright and genuinely kind. She has spent the last 8 weeks in Bogota, helping people that can do nothing for her in return. The love and care she has for people is incredible. She will be the first person to pick you up when you need her to, she will be the first one to do something to make you happy on a bad day, and she will leave behind everything she knows and loves to spend two months in a country simple to help. If you know her, even if you just know her through a friend, you are lucky.

Can you disagree with me now when I say my best friend is seriously the best? No, you can't.

Now in honor of my one friend coming home in just a few days (FIVE DAYS), here are some of the highlights of our friendship.

The Scarecrow Massacre (also known as our first great idea)  

The First One Friend Day of Fun (also known as the day we celebrate the beginning of Christmas by not sleeping and acting like crazy people)

Christmas Cookie Day (also known as the day that Alyssa and Erika take gingerbread house making too seriously and try to beat everyone when there isn't even a competition)

Valentines Day Sweater Making (yes, we make these every year. yes, we are awesome)

Easter Sweater and Hat Making (also could be considered as an example of the fact that we take things too far)

Photo Booth Fun (also known as a sickness we have. we have contributed well over 100 dollars to photo booths in our friendship. that is A LOT of photo booth picture strips, and probably a lot of judgment from people watching us on the little screen outside the photo booth)

Erika's 21st Birthday (also known as one of the best nights we ever had and the night Alyssa decided it was going to be her 21st birthday as well)

Our First Couple Costume (also known as the beginning of Halloween greatness)

Bachelor and Bachelorette Obsession (again, this can also be an example of how we take things too far)

One Friends (and Momma Woosa) Go to Vegas (also known as...well, I can't say. As we all know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas)

One Friends Ride a Roller Coaster in Vegas (also known as "One Friends ride the coaster and walk around looking like they just went through a hurricane and no one tells them")

Our First Road Trip (also known as the weekend we proved everyone wrong by making it back from New Mexico with no problems thankyouverymuch)

One Friends Visit the Aliens While on Road Trip (also known as the best three dollars and two hours we ever spend in Roswell, New Mexico)

The Best Photo Booth Picture We've Ever Taken (also known as the time we took sombreros and mustaches into a movie theater and this happened)

Courtney's 21st Birthday Party (also known as the night we all pretended it was our 21st birthday)

The Result of the Party (no further explanation needed)

Erika Ditches Her Family on Thanksgiving so We Could Wear These Shirts (also known as the best thanksgiving ever since we wore these shirts in public and because there are turkeys on our shirts)

One Friend Birthday (also known as the day Alyssa and Erika will always spend together every year in celebration and happiness until we die)

One Friends Send Out a Christmas Card Together (also known as the best idea we have ever had in our entire lives)

One Friends Meet Gavin Degraw (also known as the event that caused Erika to call Alyssa and make her think someone had died because of all the crying and screaming)

One Friends Take Their Best Picture Ever (also known as the night One Friends had too much fun in onesies and blue wigs)

One Friends are Buzz and Woody (also known as the greatest friendship in the movies, so obviously it applies to us. also the night we wore TWO costumes to the same party)

One Friends are Thing Zombies (also known as the night we went to the movies, which is a public place with people, looking like this. and it was the night that "so bad" was born)

One Friend Day of Fun Number Two (also known as the night we used walkie talkies even though we never left each other's side. also known as the night we realized we may be too old to stay up 24 hours in a row)

One Friends Go Camping (also known as the best three days in the woods anyone has ever had. could also be known as "One Friends are Lucky to be Alive")

One Friends Always Look like This (yep. this is the real us. being weird. in a photo booth. again)

Long post, but everyone deserves to know how much they mean to someone.

My best friend means the world to me. Our lives are changing, and soon we won't live down the street from each other anymore. Sometimes this really scares me, especially with how much my life has changed in just the past five months. But looking back on what we have done together, what we have been through together, and how much fun we have together, I know that distance and changing lives will not change our friendship. 

A friendship like this is one that will last until we sit next to each other in the nursing home and cannot even remember that we are friends. Then we will just be new friends every single day, and that sounds awesome.

One Friend, I love you so very much! I can't wait until you come home. I am so excited to make more memories like these with you. We are so great :D